This week Jews all over the world celebrate the Festival of Lights, also known as Chanukah. This is one of the most celebrated of Jewish holidays and certainly one of the most famous. Yet Chanukah’s history is somewhat checkered. In fact, it seems that there was a time when the ancient rabbis were conflicted about celebrating Chanukah.

The Talmud, written about 1,600 years ago, seems confused about the reasons for celebrating Chanukah when it asks (Shabbat 21b), “What is Chanukah?” This is a strange question, especially when the reason for celebrating Chanukah is mentioned clearly in the daily prayers said during the festival.

The answer it gives is equally telling. According to the Talmud, the sole reason we celebrate Chanukah is because, after the Maccabees were successful in restoring the Temple in Jerusalem, they found only one jug of ritually pure oil to light the Temple’s candelabra. But that one jug miraculously lasted for eight days. The Talmud does not, however, see the victory of the small Maccabean army over the mighty Syrian-Greeks as a reason for celebration. This contrasts starkly with the daily prayer that focuses exclusively on the winning of the war by the small and weak Maccabean army.

It is telling that the prayer was formulated at the latest in the 2nd century CE (possibly long before), whilst the Talmudic question was asked at least a few hundred years later. It, thus, seems to me, that the rabbis of the 4th and 5th centuries had difficulty celebrating a Maccabean victory given that the Maccabees ended up being tyrannical rulers and fierce adversaries of the rabbis.

Given its faulty premise, why then didn’t the rabbis abolish Chanukah completely? Other holidays and fasts have been allowed over the centuries to fade into virtual obscurity. In the case of Chanukah, however, the rabbis, not only did not abolish it, they reinvigorated in and recast it as a celebration of a different, more spiritual miracle.

Herein lies a most important lesson. Hindsight is always 20/20. However, when we make decisions at the outset we don’t have the benefit of knowing what the outcome will be. We never have all the facts when decisions need to be made. Because of this, there are times, when we make mistakes. This is simply a function of being human.

Where is your moral compass pointing? What are your social values? Hark will explore faith, morals, ethics and character at the intersection of religion ethics, culture, politics, media, science, education, economics and philosophy. At times this blog will alert readers to breaking news and trends. At times it will attempt to look more deeply into intriguing subjects. Hark means to listen attentively, and we will, as readers talk back to the news.